In most motor vehicles, a neck or outer end of a fuel tube is accessible through an opening or port in a body panel of the vehicle and is closed by a fuel cap which is twisted or rotated relative to the neck for removal. A fuel door is mounted on the body for pivotal movement between open and closed positions exposing and concealing, respectively, the fuel tube opening in the body panel. Commonly, the fuel cap is attached to the neck or to the vehicle by a flexible tether to minimize the likelihood that the fuel cap will be lost or not replaced. To prevent a tethered fuel cap from striking the body panel during refueling, a prior fuel cap tether apparatus includes a flexible tether attached to the fuel tube neck which unfolds when the fuel cap is removed to a selfsustaining extended position suspending the fuel cap away from the surrounding body panel. Over time, however, the tether may assume a permanent fold corresponding to the position of the tether when the fuel cap is on the fuel tube neck. Other proposals include a tether consisting of rigid, folding links between the fuel cap and the fuel tube neck, a magnet for temporarily affixing the fuel cap to the fuel door, and a rack on the fuel door in which the fuel cap is stored during refueling.